Peristaltic pump with a plurality of continuously adjustable channels

ABSTRACT

A novel peristaltic pump is disclosed which comprises a support base, a shaft mounted for rotation on said support base, a rotor means mounted on said shaft at one side of said support base, motor means for driving said shaft mounted on the opposite side of said support means, said rotor means having spaced around its periphery a plurality of force bearings, in a plurality of rows spaced axially along said rotor, a half jaw mounted around the periphery of said rotor means, said half jaw having a plurality of stacked-grooved sectors spaced axially along said rotor means, said plurality of stacked-grooved sectors having individual means for independent adjustment of the radial depth of each of said stacked-grooved sectors.

United States Papoff et al.

Patent 1 lnventors: Paolo Papoff, Bari; Sebastiano lmpedovo, P'utignano,both of Italy Assignee: Snam Progetti S.p.A., Milanese,

, ltaly Filed: Oct. 8, 1971 Appl. No.: 187,643

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 8, 1970 Italy 30722/70 US. Cl.417/475, 417/477 Int. Cl. F04b 43/08, F04b 43/12, FO4b 45/06 Field ofSearch 417/475, 477, 476; 418/45 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS7/1972 Kushner 417/477 3/1973 Gelfand. H1883 Morton 417/477 [451 Feb.12, 1974 Bastian 417/477 Primary Examiner-Carlton R. Croyle AssistantExaminer-Richard C. Gluck [5 7 ABSTRACT A novel peristaltic pump isdisclosed which comprises a support base, a shaft mounted for rotationon said support base, a rotor means mounted on said shaft at one side ofsaid support base, motor means for driving said shaft mounted on theopposite side of said support means, said rotor means having spacedaround its periphery a plurality of force bearings, in a plurality ofrows spaced axially along said rotor, a half jaw mounted around theperiphery of said rotor means, said half jaw having a plurality ofstacked-grooved sectors spaced axially along said rotor means, saidplurality of stacked-grooved sectors having individual means forindependent adjustment of the radial depth of each of saidstacked-grooved sectors.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PAIENIEflFiB 1 2 1914 sum 1 OF 2 SHEET 2 BF2 IN VEN TORS 7154/, ATTORNEY PERISTALTIC PUMP WITH A PLURALITY OFCONTINUOUSLY ADJUSTABLE CHANNELS The present invention relates to theprovision of a peristaltic pump with a plurality of channels, allowingthe independent and continuous adjustment for each channel of thedistance between the force bearing and the channel guide, so as to allowin this way the contemporaneous use of tubes of different diameter andthe independent control of the delivery of each single channel. In theprior art several types of peristaltic pumps with a plurality ofchannels are known, which find their most suitable use in automaticchemical analysis. All these known pumps have, however, the drawback ofbeing compelled to use tubes that are always of the same diameter andthis means that, if volumes of liquids are to be mixed, having adifferent ratio gr/cm sec., one is compelled to work by varying theconcentration ratios as it is not possible to do anything on thevolumes. Furthermore, wear of the tubes and defects or variations oftheir outer diameter cause malfunctioning and flow unevenness in saidpumps.

The object of the present invention is to remove the above mentioneddrawbacks and thus to provide a peristaltic pump with a plurality ofchannels which, as it can accommodate tubes of any desired differentdiameter, allows the contemporaneous pumping of different volumetricdeliveries. This is obtained in practice by making each pump channel.with a grooved sector which can be continuously adjusted in the radialdirction through a setting pin. In fact, as the sectors of the guidechannels of the pump tubes may be moved more or less toward the forcebearing continuously and independently of one another, in this way it isnot only possible to use tubes of different diameters but also tocontinue the use of tubes which have become deformed through use withoutcausing malfunctioning and flow unevenness.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred practical embodimentgiven by way of example only and without limiting the invention, astechnical and structural variants may be resorted to in practice withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a top view of the peristaltic pump with a plurality ofchannels according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the pump taken along the line A-A ofFIG. 1.

In said figures, reference numeral 1 indicates the support base plate ofthe pump, in a hole of which plate a shaft 3 is mounted through thebearing 2. Said shaft 3, the section of which is enlarged under plate I,is also rotatably supported through bearing 4 by a bracket 5 which isfixed by means of screws to the under face of the plate 1. In such a wayshaft 3 may rotate only around a perfectly vertical axis and thisrotation is imparted thereto by a motor 6 whose shaft 7 is keyed throughkey 8 to the interior of the lower part of shaft 3. A rotor 9 isinserted on the upper end of said shaft 3 and is fixedly secured theretoby the stop dowel l0. Rotor 9 has on its periphery as many circulargrooves 11 as the required number of the pump channels (eight in theembodiment shown herein) and in these grooves sets of force bearings 12(ten sets are shown in the figures of the drawings) are inserted, beingsupported by idle pins 13.

A solid metal half-jaw 14 is rigidly fixed on plate 1 by means of fourfastening screws 15 and four locking nuts 16, in the proximity of thebearing rotor 9 and with its concavity facing it, while a tube guidingbracket 17 is mounted on said plate 1 opposite to said half-jaw 14 atthe other side of rotor 9; The tube guiding bracket 17 consists of acentral body 18 and two lateral blocks 19. The central body 18 isrigidly fixed to the plate 1 by means of two fastening screws 20 and twolocking nuts 21 so as to be perfectly parallel to the half-jaw 14, andin proximity of its two lateral ends it has two vehical sets of holes 22and 23 of different diameters, through some of which the various tubes24 of the pump are being passed (eight tubes in the embodiment shown).The two lateral blocks 19 are pressed against the corresponding uprightsof the body 18, each through two stud bolts 25, and are used to clampsaid tubes of the pump in order to prevent them from bieng entrained bythe rotation of rotor 9.

Now, according to the present invention, between the half jaw 14 and thebearing rotor 9 are placed a stacked configuration of as many groovedsectors 26 as there are pump channels. Said sectors 26 have crosssectiongenerally in the form of a concavity corresponding to that of the halfjaw 14 and their inner grooves 27 define, together with the bearings 12of the rotor 9, the pump channels in which tubes 24 are passed. Thegrooved sectors 26 are also all movable in the radial directionindependently from one another and in such a movement each sector isguided by the underlying sector excepting the bottom sector which isguided by the plane of the plate 1. The radial movement of each sector26 is obtained through a threaded setting pin 28 which, being threadablysupported by the half jaw 14 at its symmetry axis, urges with its endagainst the back of the corresponding sector 26 in a suitable recess 29thereof.

It is therefore clear that by more or less screwing a setting pin 28 andin this way more or less radially. moving the corresponding groovedsector 26, the width of the corresponding channel is caused to be moreor less changed accordingly, and this allows the use of a tube of largeror smaller diameter. On the other hand, as the position of each groovedsector with respect to the bearing rotor may be adjusted at will,independently of the position of the other grooved sectors, it is alsoclear that by means of the peristaltic pump being the subject matter ofthe present invention it is possible to use tubes of different diameterscontemporaneously and moveover it is also possible to go on using tubesdeformed by wear; to this end it is sufficient to adjust the channelused through the corresponding setting pin, so as to accommodate it tothe new diameter of the worn tube.

What we claim is:

1. A peristaltic pump which comprises a support base, a shaft mountedfor rotation on said support base, a rotor means mounted on said shaftat one side of said support base, motor means for driving said shaftmounted on the opposite side of said support base, said rotor meanshaving spaced around its periphery a plurality of force bearings in aplurality of rows spaced axially along said rotor, a half jaw mountedaround the pe riphery of said rotor means, said half jaw having aplurality of stacked-grooved sectors spaced axially along 2. Aperistaltic pump according to claim 1 wherein said individual means forindependent adjustment of the radial distance of each of said pluralityof stackedgroove sectors comprises a threaded setting pin which isthreadably supported by said half jaw.

1. A peristaltic pump which comprises a support base, a shaft mountedfor rotation on said support base, a rotor means mounted on said shaftat one side of said support base, motor means for driving said shaftmounted on the opposite side of said support base, said rotor meanshaving spaced around its periphery a plurality of force bearings in aplurality of rows spaced axially along said rotor, a half jaw mountedaround the periphery of said rotor means, sAid half jaw having aplurality of stacked-grooved sectors spaced axially along said rotormeans, said plurality of stacked-grooved sectors, having individualmeans for independent adjustment of radial distance from the forcebearings, said plurality of stacked-grooved sectors being guided inradial movement by the adjoining stacked-grooved sector.
 2. Aperistaltic pump according to claim 1 wherein said individual means forindependent adjustment of the radial distance of each of said pluralityof stacked-groove sectors comprises a threaded setting pin which isthreadably supported by said half jaw.